A Beautiful Toolbox Makeover

I certainly wouldn't have thought that today would have produced anything beautiful.
Well, let me rephrase.

I certainly didn't think that I would be producing anything beautiful today.
Since today started out with a blasting migraine that woke me up in the middle of the night. 

It had me out of sorts all morning and nearly into the afternoon.
Luckily it started to ease off early afternoon and hubby had been HARD at work on trying to organize the garage.
Which, let me tell you was a feat.
Had I been migraine-free at the beginning of his venture into the garage, I definitely would have taken a before picture.
But, sadly, I don't have one :/ 

He's currently trying to create extra space in the garage to house a small area for him to have a gym set-up. 
Which is ambitious considering the woman he married and the amount of stuff she crams into a garage. 

He's always so easy going about my collection of junk- I'm the one who gets stressed out when it starts getting out of hand. 
We've basically had to walk the plank to get in and out of our door lately because of the collection of barn wood that's accumulated. 

Hence the huge organization project that happened today. 

In the midst of all the craziness and headache induced grumpiness, I did manage to scavenge some beauty out of the mess.

One of the projects that hubby was tackling was this crazy mess of a work-bench we've had since we moved in a few months ago...

I'm just going to be honest and say that this post is NOT a full reveal of what we did to this work area because it's not entirely finished yet. 

We gave a good 8 hours and finished most of what we wanted to accomplish in the garage but the finishing touches aren't all done. 

But it's looking SO much better. 

Anyways.

Hubby did all the hard, big things today.
I did a LOT of painting. 

And in the midst of painting really boring things, like shelves, I decided to paint something fun and completely random.

Also, completely unnecessary. 

But sometimes painting something completely obscure is unbelievably satisfactory.
Like this little, er, big and HEAVY toolbox.

You see it shoved in the corner in the above picture?

How about a close-up? 

A friend gave me this little red toolbox years ago when I was collecting random tools and starting to get into projects. 

It's been through a lot and today I decided it needed to look like it belonged to me. 

Sorry, Husky fans (are there such a thing?). 

I have no idea if these are crazy expensive or whatever, but it wanted to be pretty. 

Check out my little work-space now....

I KNOW, RIGHT???

It's blue. 

Aqua blue. 

And GORGEOUS. 

Hubby cut and framed out the pegboard behind the toolbox and I went ahead and painted it up. 

Because work spaces can be pretty too. 

It'll have a lot more on the table and pegboard in a couple days but for now it's a pretty and styled little toolbox. 

The table itself was bought second-hand off of some guy selling tools out of his garage. 

It's incredibly sturdy and hand-made. 

But the top was just straight MDF and was starting to curl on the edges.

So we spent about 10 minutes cutting this gorgeous, thick barn wood to fit on the top of the table. 

Instantly better. 

And the wear and tear from using the table will just add to the already gorgeous character on the wood itself. 

Little husky was just taped off and given several coats of Glossy Exotic Turquoise or something like that. 

I can't walk to the garage right now to look. Because. Eight hours. Tired. 

I realize that I may be alone in my thinking but I LOVE all the random bits of hardware, metal and wooden pieces that I have lying around in bins. 

I keep nearly everything just in case it comes in handy for a future project. 

So when it came time to photograph Husky, I piled my pretty pulls, worn table legs & rusty door locks and decided that they made the perfect accessories for a toolbox that's been around a while. 

The best thing is, I get to smile every time I reach for a hammer or needle nose pliers just because the toolbox is blue. 

Do things that make you smile, guys. 

Don't worry about what it's SUPPOSED to look like or stick with how every other thing in the world is made. Make it yours. And find joy in every little thing. 

No one else may like my little blue husky toolbox. 

But I do. 

And it gives me joy to see it surrounded by all my favorite (and random) things... Ball Mason jars, eclectic knobs and pulls, old books, worn hinges, rusty metal pieces, tattered furniture legs. And weathered wood. 

It'll be full of tools tomorrow. 

And the table will get covered in sawdust and nails. 

Paint will probably end up splattered on that weathered tabletop. 

And the pegboard will be covered in screwdrivers, goggles & drill bits rather than pretty signs. 

But there's a blue toolbox hidden in there guys, and the hidden joy in that is worth it :) 

The fact that summer has finally come and work has slowed down to a minuscule pace (I do therapy in a school district so I'm pulling just 2-3 summer hours and that's it!). 

So I've been able to savor all kinds of things during the day that I don't usually get a chance to. 

Lazy breakfasts, toddler snuggles, swinging in the backyard, post-nap toddler hair, sticky Popsicle faces and so much more. 

I've been finding joy in all the little things lately. 

And trying hard to make that my every day goal. 

If you've ever had migraines, you know that it tends to suck every little thing out of you. 

Even after it fades away, the day is still hazed by the fog that a migraine leaves you with. 

And although it was hard today, this little blue toolbox brought me joy. 

It's random. 

And it's an in-animate object.

But that's okay :)

I hope something random brought you joy during your day today! 

Check out it's before & after to see the transformation it went through:  

Here's to a three-day weekend and finding joy all over again tomorrow!!
Happy Memorial Day weekend friends & thank you to those who have served and God bless those we have lost in that service.

See you soon friends!

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Linking to: 
Dishing It and Digging It @ Chalk and Chocolate. Creative Collection Link Party @ Blooming Homestead.